The greatest trick the federal government ever pulled was convincing people that control should flow from the top down rather than the bottom up. The Tenth Amendment was meant to be a safeguard, ensuring that decisions impacting communities were made by those communities, not dictated by a handful of elites in Washington. Yet, over time, the federal government has expanded its reach, using regulation, funding loopholes, and political pressure to override the will of the people.

When power is centralized, individual voices are drowned out. A law that makes sense in rural Texas may be completely out of place in New York City, yet the federal government insists on applying one-size-fits-all mandates that ignore the cultural, economic, and social differences of each state.

But this was never how it was meant to be.

The Founders understood that a distant government will never understand the needs of the individual better than the individual themselves. They built a system where states—not the federal government—would hold most of the power, ensuring that the laws governing daily life were decided at a level where citizens could actually influence them.

The Rise of Federal Overreach

What was once a government of the people has become a machine that dictates how Americans live, work, and even think.

• Education policies are crafted by bureaucrats in Washington instead of by parents and local school boards.
• Gun laws are shaped by politicians who live behind armed security while restricting law-abiding citizens in states where self-defense is a necessity.
• Federal agencies hold states hostage, using the promise (or denial) of funding to force compliance with laws never voted on by the people.

Ronald Reagan put it best: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.’”

The more power the federal government takes, the less power the individual has. This is by design. Control is easier when decisions are made at the highest level, where people have the least ability to push back.

The Solution? Decentralization & Local Control

Power belongs where it affects people most—at the local level.

• A town should decide its own zoning laws, not Congress.
• A state should determine its own education standards, not the Department of Education.
• A community should set its own safety policies, not federal agencies with no stake in their well-being.

The more local the government, the more accountable it is to the people it serves. Federal overreach is not just an inconvenience—it is a direct threat to self-governance.

The Bottom Line

No one understands the needs of a community better than the people who live there. The further removed decision-making is from the people, the more control is lost. The power of local governance is not just a principle—it is the only way to ensure true representation and accountability.